The Legal Job Landscape in Atlanta
At present, the legal job market in the Atlanta region is largely driven by transactional demand. In particular, activity in the corporate, intellectual property, and business banking and commercial finance practice groups is high; over 50 law firms are hiring for corporate attorneys and more than 30 general counsel offices have recent corporate attorney openings. Practice groups such as litigation and real estate have been slower (though not completely sluggish), but as we see demand in these groups trending back upward, additional opportunities for litigators and real estate specialists will open up .
In general, demand for attorneys in the Atlanta area has been on the rise over the past few months, including demand for applicants from a variety of backgrounds, such as those with niche skills or advanced degrees. Applicants with specific expertise in healthcare, intellectual property, environmental, and privacy or data security are in high demand. Unquestionably, the most sought after attorneys currently are those with portable business, but there is steady demand for associates, and the gates are wide open for those in their junior and mid-level years with expertise in sought after fields.
Largest Legal Employers in Atlanta
Major law firms in Atlanta include Eversheds Sutherland, Alston & Bird LLP, King & Spalding, and Arnall Golden Gregory LLP.
Eversheds Sutherland is an international law firm with wellbeing and work-life balance a top priority. The American Lawyer’s Global 100 ranks Eversheds Sutherland as the largest law firm in the world. Through its international network of over 1,000 lawyers and legal staff across 62 offices in 30 countries, Eversheds Sutherland attracts a broad range of clients including FTSE 100, Fortune 500 and FTSE250 corporate business, governments, private individuals and NGOs.
Atlanta-based Alston & Bird LLP, was founded in 1893 and employs 1,912 personnel in Atlanta, Austin, Charlotte, Dallas, New York, Los Angeles, Silicon Valley, Washington, D.C., and London. It also recently expanded its presence in Shanghai through a strategic tie-up with Commerce & Finance Law Offices (CFLO), one of China’s leading law firms. Alston & Bird has been a leading law firm for over 125 years and well knows the importance of a balanced work/life culture. Their offices are cool and modern, and support fitness and overall wellness in both their employees and the community.
King & Spalding is an international law firm, with 850 lawyers in 22 offices in the United States, Europe, Asia and the Middle East. Across borders and within practice areas, they have teams of lawyers who work together seamlessly to meet our clients’ legal needs.
Arnall Golden Gregory LLP is a multi-service law firm and one of the leading law firms based in Atlanta for over 70 years. AGG provides sophisticated legal services to leading corporations and financial institutions in complex commercial litigation and transactions.
Corporations located in Atlanta that employ lawyers include: Coca-Cola, Humana Inc., Home Depot, IHG and Turner Broadcasting.
Government agencies that attorneys are employed by include: The Army Corps of Engineers, the U.S. District Court, the Georgia Department of Labor, the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission , the Georgia Governor’s Office of Planning & Budget and the Atlanta Public Schools.
Legal Job Qualifications
Qualifications for legal jobs in Atlanta vary by type of position, but there are many requirements that are standard across the board. Entry-level candidates will typically have to obtain a bachelor’s degree, then continue their education by getting a Juris Doctor (JD) degree at an ABA-accredited law school. If they expect to become licensed in Georgia, they will also need to pass the Georgia bar exam.
These legal education requirements also apply to more advanced legal jobs. For example, law firm attorneys will usually need to have a JD to practice in Georgia and represent clients in legal matters. Law firm associates are attorneys hired to provide support and assistance for establishing and maintaining client relationships, while law firm partners are advanced attorneys with their own established clients. The most sought-after candidates for law firm associate positions have several years of legal work experience with related educational qualifications.
Law firm paralegals have an in-depth understanding of the law and apply their education when working on cases. Through conducting legal and factual investigations, analyzing the results of legal research projects, drafting documents and preparing clients and witnesses for trials, paralegals provide essential support for law firms and other legal professionals. Most law firm paralegals have a bachelor’s degree, and some also hold American Bar Association-approved training certificates.
Other legal professionals require a bachelor’s degree, legal training and/or advanced legal education. Examples of legal practitioners in this category include bookkeepers, litigation support specialists, document reviewers, eDiscovery analysts and litigation assistants. Legal support specialists, such as legal secretaries and legal assistants, do many administrative tasks. Senior legal practitioners have several years of legal experience with both administrative and legal responsibilities.
Atlanta Legal Networking Opportunities
Atlanta offers a variety of networking opportunities for legal professionals looking to find jobs in the area. The State Bar of Georgia, which has a number of local chapters in the Atlanta area, organizes a number of events for those interested in law practice, including a recent "Career Navigator with Bar Leaders" session designed to help new lawyers find their footing. The Atlanta Bar Association has similar programs in place for both law students and young lawyers. As a chapter of the National Black Law Students Association, the Charles R. Drew Law Group at Georgia State University’s College of Law organizes career fairs and other networking opportunities for members. The Gwinnett County Bar Association and its Young Lawyers’ Section organizes a variety of events, from social gatherings to volunteer opportunities . The Atlanta LGBT Bar Association provides support and networking opportunities for LGBT lawyers throughout Atlanta. Legal organizations that focus on specific subgroups of the profession include the Georgia Association for Women Lawyers and the Georgia Hispanic Bar Association. Along with networking opportunities for women and Hispanic attorneys, the Gwinnett County Section boasts its employment referral program for unemployed or underemployed Gwinnett attorneys of all backgrounds, which matches them with potential employers. The Georgia Section of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) serves the interests of immigration lawyers in the state of Georgia and organizes a number of networking events.
Winning Legal Job Search Strategies
Application Tip #1: If you can, come from far and wide to work in Atlanta. Law firms can be fickle beasts especially when it comes to filling a legal support position with a resourceful and bright experienced candidate.
Application Tip #2: Don’t have any other agenda when you apply for a legal position in Atlanta. Do you really believe it’s worth it to try to land an Atlanta-based firm if you’re really planning to move back home to Wisconsin? Remember, Georgia requires 6 months of residency. Play the long game by showing loyalty and love to Georgia before heading home.
Application Tip #3: Propose a job that was never posted. Who knows what will happen if you throw the firm a bone. Are they doing a practice area you would like to support? Do they need the assistance of another paralegal? The world is your oyster!
Resume Tip #1: The two-sided arrow is your friend. Use it to produce a clearly formatted and easy to read resume. There’s no need to put your resume on any creative paper and there’s certainly no need to laminate it. Lawyers are pragmatic when it comes to resumes. They want to know who did what and when without all the fancy embellishments.
Resume Tip #2: Double-space the entire resume. Leave enough room for the reader to think while he/she is reading your resume. A double-spaced resume will practically jump off the page. Stop trying to keep the resume to two pages. No one reads two pages anyway. These days resumes should be less than one page.
Interview Tip #1: Be enthusiastic. It’s great to be a little nervous but you can overcome the jitters by letting your enthusiasm show through. Applicants who don’t care about landing the position are showing us that they don’t really want the job. Put forth some effort and take the time to speak with genuine enthusiasm about the work the firm does.
Interview Tip #2: Show the interviewer that you communicate clearly. Your job in a law firm is about communicating with lawyers and the most important type of communication is responsive communication. Too many applicants think they are supposed to be stoic and serious during the interview. Be happy for the opportunity and show that you appreciate the chance to talk. If you don’t act like you care, there are too many applicants waiting in line who will express an appreciation just for the opportunity to interview.
Interview Tip #3: Never ask any outrageous questions. Concerning benefits, applicants tend to ask for more holidays and vacations or early departures; these types of questions don’t resonate well. They suggest that the applicant is potentially a bad fit with the firm. Understandably, we wish the best for everyone, but if you expect to have more time off than the rest of the office, then you don’t belong working in a high-pressure environment which requires teamwork.
Local Atlanta Resources: Since 1999, we’ve invested time and effort in forming productive alliances with Atlanta-based legal recruiters. The Legalist has earnestly tried to form relationships with the following recruiters based in Atlanta; we have only listed those dedicated to the placement of legal professionals.
Atlanta Office Solutions
Goldspry
LawrAssist
Strategic Legal Solutions
First Choice Recruiting
Careers Beyond Traditional Legal Roles
While many positions for licensed attorneys in the Atlanta market involve traditional practice, alternatives have opened in recent years. Compliance roles in the financial and securities sectors are increasingly common, as well as opportunities in regulatory affairs in other industries. The qualified legal professional may also support the legal department in-house, as a litigation support manager or paralegal manager. Companies in the engineering and construction space have taken advantage of increased regulatory oversight by hiring attorneys to help minimize risk in the award of contracts to their corporate entities, as well as to ensure compliance with local, state and federal regulations. Corporate tax departments are also increasingly looking to add lawyers to manage the tax component of domestic and international business transactions. Volume-driven legal work continues to move toward the non-legal sector, as does the management of large scale document reviews for complex litigation. Legal staffing companies now have national volume centers in major cities, including Atlanta. Technology consulting also has recently expanded to include legaltech services , such as eDiscovery or Legal Project Management. Experts in these areas may learn to leverage their legal background towards consulting and client advisory roles outside the law firm environment. Added benefits also exist in the healthcare sector. Opportunities have grown for healthcare specialists, both in legal and business roles, particularly those with a patient care background as well as those with an understanding of the complexities of federal and state healthcare regulations, billing, and insurance. Trade associations and non-profits, whether in the environmental, education, or industry sectors also have taken the opportunity to hire specialists with a legal background. Their legal experience is utilized to help formulate policy or position papers, lobby for change with legislators and lawmakers, or prepare analysis describing regulatory impacts to destination industries. Legal recruiting firms have experienced many changes over the past three years as the legal market has shifted. While fewer firms are replacing departing attorneys on an ephemeral basis, firms are making investments through their summer programs and plans to grow. Recognizing this, top firms in Atlanta continue to attract the best and brightest, and maintain a leadership position in the U.S. legal landscape.